* Breathing to Let Go

“Sometimes you don’t realize the weight of something you’ve been carrying until you feel the weight of its release.”

When you find yourself tense, overwhelmed or feel the weight of the world on your shoulders. Take a moment and connect with your breath.

Do you notice that there is a slight pause at the end on the inhale as you hold onto the air? This holding on creates more tension in our body and it feels so good to release some of it in this simple exercise:

Take a nice big inhale and then sigh on the exhale. Really focus on the noise you can make when you breath out! Make it loud and long. The biggest and best sigh in the world.

Next, If this feels good, bring your shoulders up to your ears on your inhale and then release them down your back on the exhale.

You may want to bring in some shoulder rolls now. Inhale raising your shoulder up and then exhale releasing forwards. (3 times) Then inhale raising them up and exhale releasing them backwards (3 times).

The weight of the world is being lifted off your shoulders. As you practice this can you feel the burden releasing?

About Val Boyko

Val Boyko is originally from Scotland and came to the United States over 25 years ago.
At "Find Your Middle Ground" Val brings together her experience as a life coach, yoga teacher and mentor, to inspire awakening to the light and inspiration within us all.
This blog is a place of exploration and discovery as we all explore finding harmony and peace, in the highs and lows of life 💛

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29 thoughts on “* Breathing to Let Go”

An excellent exercise Val; it’s extraordinarily effective to use the body so as to affect the mind positively isn’t it? One thinks of how smiling lifts the mood as a simple example; it seems pretty much impossible for it not to work.

Thank you Hariod, Smiling is a great way to switch our mind state.
When we laugh or sing (just like the sighs) we exhale even more, releasing tension from the body as well as the mind :0)
Big smile!
Val x

I like to invite myself to ‘open up to expansion’ on the in breath — it reminds me to not contract, to stay open and allowing of what it — adding your imagery of freeing myself of the weight of the world is powerful!

Very good exercise! Thank you for teaching us to… breathe! In a way, you teach us… Life! 🙂 You know, I had my lef shoulder broken four weeks ago (I fell down on rocks…) thanks to God, I did not need a surgery… this week I’ve started physiotherapy and your exercise is going to help me a lot!!!
Alors, merci encore Val!

Thank you Frederic. Vous etes trop gentile! I hope your shoulder heals quickly. You are lucky that there was not serious damage. I hope the breathing helps with the release during physiotherapy 🙂
Val x

Great post Val. I have felt the reality of this quote with pain (only realizing how much physical pain I had once I experienced no pain) and with stress, the absence of it was quite revealing!
Diana xo

This post is perfect for me today. Yesterday, I discovered a part of me that I’ve been holding on to. Now, in the light of your precious gift of verse this morning, I’m realizing just how much weight I had been carrying without even knowing it.

Val, may your day be filled with Love and Light as you breathe into the flow of life.

Val, I too have experienced the wonder of weightlessness once a burden had been lifted from my shoulders. I agree that sometimes that can be mind over matter (meaning that there can be whatever is happening in your life and then there is how you look at it – two different things).

Thanks for this simple guidance, Val. Isn’t the breath powerful?
I have been part of a guided breathwork group that meets weekly. The experiences and clearing are quite amazing. Oh, it’s not about the group or the guide (as wonderful as they are!).
Simply breathing, and enjoying breathing, brings wonderful results. And, it’s simple and natural.
I sometimes ask myself how and why I’m not mindful of my breathing more of the time. Well, even that I’m choosing to let go.
Vincent